Principal Data Scientist

At Safety National, we don't just offer jobs - we build careers with purpose! Since 1942, we've been an industry leader, valuing integrity, teamwork, and stability while providing competitive rewards, top-tier benefits, career growth opportunities, and flexible work options that promote balance. With tuition reimbursement, wellness perks, and a strong community impact, we invest in your success-both personally and professionally. Ready to grow with us? Apply today!

Follow this link to view all of our available careers and apply: https://www.safetynational.com/careers-page/

This opportunity is in the Data Analytics department.
Curious about data science and analytics? Our Data Analytics department seeks those passionate about using data to tell business stories, inform decision making and solve business problems. If you are a curious professional with education or experience in data science, statistics, and machine learning, this is an excellent opportunity to be part of a highly impactful, innovative and diverse team.

Role Description:
As a Principal Data Scientist, you will be the technical expert behind cutting-edge model development and advanced analytics. In this highly specialized role, you'll design, build, and deploy sophisticated machine learning and statistical models that directly influence key business strategies. You'll be empowered to innovate and experiment with novel techniques in AI, deep learning, and reinforcement learning, all while ensuring compliance with governance, regulatory, and ethical AI standards.

Your hands-on leadership will guide a growing team of data scientists, as you mentor others and foster best practices in model deployment, data architecture, and experimentation. You'll collaborate with cross-functional teams-including engineering, product, and risk-to translate data insights into business outcomes. As our subject matter expert, you'll also represent Safety National in internal and external technical forums and provide critical support for audits and regulatory compliance initiatives. If you're ready to drive business transformation with data while remaining rooted in technical excellence, this role is for you.

Qualifications:

Education:
A Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Engineering, or a related field is required.

Required Qualifications:

• Must be presently authorized to work in the U.S. without a requirement for work authorization sponsorship by our company for this position now or in the future.
• This position allows for a hybrid work schedule which includes a minimum of 3 days per week in our St. Louis Corporate Office, located at 1832 Schuetz Rd. Saint Louis, MO. All employees are required to submit work from home requests and follow our Work From Home policy, which will be provided to all candidates selected to interview.
• 10 or more years of experience in data science, machine learning, or AI roles.
• Proven experience deploying production ML models at scale.
• Proficiency in Python, R, or Scala.
• Expertise in ML frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn, XGBoost).
• Strong SQL and data wrangling skills (e.g., Spark, Dask).
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure), Docker, and Kubernetes.
• Familiarity with ML lifecycle tools (e.g., MLflow, Kubeflow).
• Experience in regulated industries (finance, insurance, healthcare) with exposure to compliance frameworks.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to explain complex concepts to non-technical audiences.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively across teams.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in reinforcement learning, generative AI, or Bayesian modeling.
• Contributions to open-source projects or published research.
• Experience with edge AI, federated learning, or real-time analytics.
• Familiarity with explainable AI (XAI), fairness in AI, and bias mitigation strategies.

Protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information and technology assets against unauthorized disclosure, destruction and/or alteration, in accordance with Safety National policies, standards, and procedures.

Safety National is a leading specialty insurance and reinsurance provider. Our culture is built upon relationships, which allow us to demonstrate our expertise gained through our rich 80-year history. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tokio Marine, Inc., we appreciate the benefits and support provided by our affiliation with one of the top 10 insurance companies in the world.

Total Rewards That Put Employees First

In our vision to be First with Co-Workers, compensation that includes base salary, holiday bonus, and incentive awards is only a small portion of the comprehensive total rewards package we offer. Our total rewards approach recognizes and rewards the time, talents, efforts, and results of our valued employees. Highlights of our exceptional benefits include generous health, dental, and vision coverage, health savings accounts, a 401(k)-retirement savings match and an annual profit-sharing contribution. We proudly offer family forming benefits for adoption, fertility, and surrogacy, generous paid time off and paid holidays, paid parental and caregiver leave, a hybrid work environment, and company-paid life insurance and disability. To support employees in their career journeys, we provide professional growth and development opportunities in addition to employee recognition and well-being programs. Apply today to learn more.

Safety National is committed to fair, transparent pay and we strive to provide competitive, market-based compensation. In our vision to be First with Co-Workers, compensation is only one piece of the comprehensive total rewards package we offer. The target base salary range for this position is $130,000 to $209,000 Compensation for the successful candidate will consider the candidate's particular combination of knowledge, skills, competencies, experience and geographic location.

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